Now and Later.

Humans most times think of actions only in terms of short-run benefits (the here and now). We make decisions based solely on the returns we’ll get from such a resolution in the now without asking what long-run implications it will have. Don’t mind Keynes who said we’ll all be dead in the long-run. Remember that economics as a way of thinking helps us cone to terms with the consequences of the choices we make.

The actions we take as humans are usually motivated by the rewards we’ll get or not get from taking them. It is rare to find people do things they know won’t bring them any reward. In fact the higher the rewards of an action, the more likely it will be taken and the lower the rewards, the less likely it will be taken. That is, to increase the likelihood that an action will be taken, simply increase the reward (or reduce the cost) obtainable from taking such action. On the other hand, reduce the reward (or increase the cost) obtainable from a course of action and you’ll find people reduce the chances of carrying it out.

It must however be understood that while some actions carry short-run benefits and long-run costs others have short-run costs and long-run benefits. More often than not, we make decisions based on what rewards we’ll get now. It is possible some of us act like this because we have not been trained to think of actions in terms of benefits and costs on the one hand and in terms of long-run and short-run effects on the other.

You might however ask, “how do I know what a short-run or long-run in my circumstance is?” It is not a question with a linear answer. The answer to this question is found in the circumstances surrounding the actions we take or decisions we’ve made.

Five or ten years down the line, would you be better off or worse off being in that relationship you’re in despite the momentary enjoyment you are deriving from it? Five or ten years from now, what career path do you see for yourself given your present engagement? How easy or difficult would it be for you to make a switch to something you think is better some years from now? What will be the effect on your bowel in the morning of that extra bowl of ice cream you want to consume? Outside the context it’s being analyzed, it’s usually difficult to explain the long-run and short-run concepts

While I understand that the exigencies of the present can drive us to take actions without thinking them through, it is important we stop a while and think through the actions we take especially as we know that they’ll have some effects on us beyond now.

I think it will be better to endure the present discomfort of walking on a chosen path which you know will bring you future rewards. What do you think?

I know in the long-run we are not all dead because the long-run is the sum of various short-runs!

Be inspired!

Remain motivated!

WHAT IS, WHAT OUGHT TO BE AND THE NIGERIAN DILEMA

I am one economist who de-emphasizes what is for what ought to be (the unending positive economics vs normative economics debate). A concentration on what is, locks one in a box and limits the ability to reach for the possible. In Nigeria, we know what is and what ought to be but we go for what is.

Having square pegs in round holes in Nigeria is what is, and we prefer it.

Assuming national duties by virtue of state of origin, religion, tribe and/or personal affiliations is what is and is preferred in Nigeria above competence, capacity to deliver and know-how (what ought to be). In fact, we are ready to go on protests to protect “our own” (when s/he’s brought under scrutiny) that has clearly demonstrated incompetence and brazenly looted our commonwealth. This is what is and we love it! The result of this preference is seen on our tattered roads, in a dilapidated educational system, in unsecured security forces and in a broken social structure.

However, it is not unlikely to find exceptions to rules such as this in Nigeria in very unlikely places. One of such places is the position of head coach of Nigeria’s national senior football team (the Super Eagles). On Wednesday, 15^th July, 2015, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) unveiled former Nigerian player, Sunday Oliseh as the new head coach of the Super Eagles. A position that had in the recent past been held by Austine Egwavoen, Samson Siasia and Stephen Keshi, all from the South-South region of the country. In all the conversations I listened to surrounding the drama of Keshi’s exit and Oliseh’s enthronement, not one Nigerian went for the usual what is, that is, nobody flew the tribal/sectional kite in the selection of Oliseh knowing fully, where his predecessors had come from. Everyone instead was more interested in Oliseh’s capacity to deliver (what ought to be) hence the controversy over his ability judging from his lack of experience managing a football team before now. This deficiency though, I heard Nigerians rallying fellow countrymen around him so he won’t fail. I heard people compare him to other untested coaches who eventually did very well and have pumped themselves high on optimism. Let me repeat that I have not heard anybody complain about a particular region dominating that position (unlike us!).

While I have nothing against football nor any other sport for that matter, I wish to submit here that there is no amount of laurels we win in football that will build our schools, roads, hospitals, improve our living standards nor mend our broken society (I want to see a society where this happened).

Fellow Nigerians, is it possible for us to channel this sense of what ought to be to other (I dare say) more important areas of our national life where it is hugely important to score policy goals because lives practically depend on it. Can we jettison sectionalism, favoritism and nepotism (like we have consciously done in the appointment of a football coach for Nigeria) and rally round our country within the extra time we have before it is game over?

YOUR PRODUCTIVE POSSIBILITIES FRONTIER

In economics, the production possibilities frontier represents the possible combinations of two goods that can be produced in a certain period of time under the conditions of a given state of technology and fully employed resources.
A country operating within the frontier is said to be under-utilizing its resources while the one that has moved outward and is along the frontier is seen to be fully utilizing its resources. However, it takes deliberate and calculated actions for any country to move outward from within the frontier.
In the production possibilities frontier, the more of a good you choose to produce, the less of the other you produce. It presents a trade-off (a core concept in economics).
Now coming to you. What output goals have you set for yourself for the rest of the year? That is, what are the things you have set out to achieve in the last half of the year given your productive capacity? Remember we said earlier that in  production possibilities frontiers, the more of good x you produce, the less of good y you will produce.
Dear friend, there are certain things you need to pay less attention to in your life because they contribute very little to the desired outcome you long to see- better education, financial freedom, better health, healthy relationships, upward career movement, and so on. If any of these outcomes resonate with you but you are not getting them, then there is a problem with how you combine your productive capacity.
You see, your productivity is measured by how much value you add to yourself and your environment per unit of TIME. Therefore, there is the need for you to take stock of what you have (time, money, innate ability, people, etc.) and understand how to combine them to produce the outcome you desire.
The last half of this year is yours to take. Don't feel overwhelmed by the negative circumstances around you (this writer deals with them everyday). Keep your eye on the GOAL; however, strive to meet daily or weekly or monthly TARGETS as you aim to score. Remember, it takes deliberate and calculated actions to get the desired outcome!

Be Inspired!
Remain Motivated!

Image credit:
www.investopedia.com

GRADUATE, GO BEYOND LOGIC 1

Logic will take you from point A to point B. Imagination will take you anywhere"
-Albert Einstein

Logic is a tool of critical thinking. It is used to evaluate the soundness or otherwise of arguments. By argument I do not mean confrontations. Arguments are claims we make about things supported by premises and conclusions which in themselves are claims.
It is worthy to note that in a world where claims and counter claims are made (spurious, bogus, logical, illogical and so on) on various fronts by forces contending for our attention and patronage e.g. advertisers, politicians and religious super salesmen, the place of logical reasoning cannot be discounted to sort the facts from fiction. Most of the decisions we make daily on alternative courses of action are based on logical deductions.
As a graduate, there is no greater period when your sense of judgment is called on than when you leave school and are ready to "face the world". It is logical as a graduate to think this way:
I've finished from the University,
Everybody who finishes from the University must look for a job,
Therefore, I must look for a job.
The argument above can't beat Logic but it has been beaten by time and circumstances. We live in a time when so many things do not make sense anymore. It used to be that you have a plethora of jobs waiting for you as a proud University graduate. It used to be that the returns on a university education or any other higher education was higher than the investment. It used to be that a university graduate commanded dignity, respect and honour from the demanders of his skills.
Graduate, time has changed. To survive and stay afloat in periods such as this, you've got to go beyond Logic and start using your imagination. Imagination breaks the limiting rules of logic especially in a world of limitless uncertainties.
It's simple. Open your eyes to the problems around you and position yourself to solving them and being paid as you solve them. Start thinking of how to go beyond your degree(s) or you'll keep begging for food, shelter and clothing. But how do you recognize these needs around you and what can you do to solve them? Let's discuss that in the next issue.

"Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic"
-Frank Herbert


Be Inspired!
Remain Motivated!

“I Got Ebola from My Dying Mum and Survived”- Alhassan Kemokai

My mum died on the 19^th of July so I was observing myself…19^th…20^th… I moved to another room after the infection. On the 28^th, I started feeling a fever. I told my wife and children not to come near me please. When I discovered I was infected with the disease, I had to abandon my room and moved into another room where I was sleeping.

It is a single bed with a foam mattress. These bedding and clothing have now been discarded by my wife. They are now preparing for burning. She has burned most of the things that were in my room.

I have been admitted for the past 11 to 12 days in the Ebola ward. And I’m very excited that I’m out today. I see myself as a free man.

When I was walking (to the hospital) everyone was looking at me. I was very sad as I was going. I was shivering. Every 10, 15, or 20 minutes, I had to go to the toilet. I used the pathway to get to the hospital, the bush route. I trekked three miles to Kenema Hospital.

I felt like I was in another world (at the isolation ward of the hospital), that the nurses were indeed angels that the two books, the Bible and the Qu’ran, describe when you die, people will come and judge you. That the angels will come and judge you.

When we saw nurses we could hardly identify them. Each time I saw them I thought they were angels coming to question me.

I walked among corpses. It is terrible. I’ve seen today one, two, three corpses come out, I am very excited. I am very happy. I am out in the world today.

Now I play with my son. Now that I’m out of the hospital I play with my entire family. I play with Miza. We are now playing together. We do things together. We eat together. We do everything together.

Story of an Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) survivor in Sierra Leone.

Spread the message of hope coming from the body’s ability to fight not FEAR.

Kemokai was able to defeat Ebola because he had a solid immune system. Are you thinking of how to boost yours today?

Culled from: The Guardian, Tuesday, August 26, 2014.

Picture Credit: google.com

Be Inspired!

Remain Motivated!

EBOLA, FACTS minus FICTION

The first case of Ebola virus appeared in 1976, the disease is caused by infection with Ebola virus, named after a river in Democratic Republic of Congo where it was first recognized.
Reported countries ever with Ebola
Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Sudan, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Republic of Congo and now Nigeria.
Method of Contraction
● Close contact with the body of infected person.
● Contact with secretion of infected person.
● Contact with organs or other bodily fluids of infected person (stool, urine, saliva, semen, tears, sweat)
Signs and Symptoms
Fever, Intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat which is followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, internal and external bleeding.
Incubation period is 2-21days and patient can only become contagious once he/she begins to show symptoms.
Cure
There is no known cure for Ebola virus and it would be right if we discard and ignore rumors going about that kola-nut and salt water can cure Ebola. This is because there has not been any clinical trial to validate these claims. However, trial drugs for its treatment are now available in the West African countries where outbreaks have been reported; and worthy of note is the NANO SILVER drug that has been donated by a Nigerian scientist in the diaspora.
Prevention
● Regular hand washing with soap and water
● Avoid eating bush meat
● Avoid crowded areas
● Avoid illicit sex
General facts about viruses
● They’re the smallest of all micro-organisms
● They live in the cell of their host and might not hurt them (like the Ebola virus in fruit bats)
● They’re the easiest of all micro-organisms to kill when outside its host
● Vaccines are the only drugs workable against viruses
● There isn’t any cure for viruses (HIV, EBOLA) yet.
Kindly report any case of anyone showing any of the mentioned symptoms to the nearest medical center for proper care or you call these toll free numbers for help (08037879701, 08037154575)
Let’s work together to keep our community Free from Ebola!!!!!!!!!



Be Inspired!
Remain Motivated!



Acknowledgement:
This piece was developed (with slight adjustments by me) by my two youngest brothers, Chinedu Akpa (an OAU Pharmacist in training) and Chigozie Akpa (an intending OAU trained Lawyer and blogger at www.akpachigozie.blogspot.com)

UKAZI is UKAZI!

I marvelled at this girl's brilliance and sense of cultural identity that day i met her. She's just like any other teenage girl in Nigeria but she exudes a lot of unusual and contagious confidence that caught my attention.
Her name is Ngozi and she's between 11 and 14 years old. She lives with her aunty and helps out at her shop; that was where i met her.
My conversation that day with her started by my explaining what Ebola virus was before i picked up a leafy vegetable common to those from the eastern part of the country called "UKAZI". I teased her by asking for the English name of the vegetable (thinking she would be a bit let down by not knowing it owing to her low level of grammatical sophistication). To my chagrin however, and with some air of incredulity, she simply told me "ukazi is ukazi, i don't want to know what the English name is".
After her submission, i simply kept quiet and thought about the stand this girl had just taken and i wondered, in how many areas of our personal and national lives have we not looked for English substitutes to what we have.
We seek these substitutes because in our estimation, they sound better, but worse and perharps more fearful is the unspoken reason of the inferiority complex we feel when we compare the names we give to things or people to foreign or English ones.
We think it wouldn't be exactly right if we allowed "eba", "fufu", "akara", "amala" and so on to be just what they are.
South Africans never sought an English equivalent to the Vuvuzela (even when these English people were contesting if it was proper to use it in the stadium) but it has made its way to the English dictionary.
I wish as a people we could adopt this stance as it concerns our cultural identity. I wish we could appreciate what we have and even promote them.
The greatest countries in the world today don't just have bulging GDPs, they also appreciate and aggressively spread their culture.
In the end however, Ukazi remains Ukazi.

Be Inspired!
Remain Motivated!